Boondocking in the Desert Day 8

Today started as a Tech Day, proceeded to a Hiking Day, then to  a health related challenge, and ending with another amazing sunset and fire.

During yesterday's closet therapy,  I tore open my box from Adafruit which contained  the new $5 PI Zero  and related peripherals.   One of the things I have discovered while boondocking is that the the desert is filled with geeks, after all who else besides a DIY personality would volunteer to go live without power, water, and sewer and call it fun! ;-)

So knowing there was backup around me, I put out the word that I was about to unpack my Adafruit box filled with Pi goodies and sent out a Facebook message inviting anyone who was interested to join me. 

I was quickly joined by Kelley who showed up carrying a battery pack and a Pico projector.  Soon Eric came over with his Dell Mini projector.  Both had enough experience to know that these might come in handy.  One of the things I learned about boon docking in a group is that everyone around you is always willing to share any resources they might have to help their neighbors. 

Kelley and I quickly explored the various components that had come in the box.  

First step in any project is too familiarize yourself with your materials.  It wasn’t long before we had power.  Next we played with display options, and finally came to a standstill realizing that the Pi Zero would need a new version of Raspbian.  I immediately started the two hour download process and then we all went off to look for palm trees in a nearby canyon!  But I had what I needed — a boost of confidence to set forth on my exploration of the Pi Zero and write the first of a Raspberry Pi series I'm starting at my Learning With Lucie blog.   Special shoutout to Kelley and Eric and all the other geeks who live, work, and learn from the road who inspire me with both your knowledge and your DIY spirit!

In the afternoon we moved on to explore a new canyon - this time by foot.  We drove over to a hiking trail that would lead us to a most unusual view of Palm Trees growing along a canyon wall.

Grabbing some photos of the palm trees about a half mile into Palm Canyon was a good chance to take a rest before the trail changed into more of a obstacle course.    Craig wasn't feeling so well so he and I decided to sit out the rest of the hike along with Lynn, who was being more cautious as her ankle was still healing from a nasty break.















We grabbed the first ride back to camp, where Craig immediately grabbed some IBprofen and headed for bed hoping the excruciating pain in his side would soon stop.  Meanwhile I watched another amazing sunset and researched the nearest hospital and started to strategize (just in case).  Thankfully he woke up a few hours later, pain free, and was able to join the group for one last fire before we relocated the bus to the Bluebird gathering in  Quartzite.